World of Warcraft reaches milestone in the lead up to the release of Wrath of the Lich King expansion

In a press release Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that the subscribership for World of Warcrafthas exceeded 11 million players worldwide. This milestone was reached as Wrath of the Lich King, World of Warcraft's second expansion, nears its worldwide launch date of November 13.

Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment commented on World of Warcraft reaching the milestone stating, "It's been very rewarding to see gamers around the world continue to show such strong support for World of Warcraft.” He also said, “We remain fully committed to responding to that enthusiasm with a high-quality, constantly evolving game experience.”

World of Warcraft debuted in North America on November 23, 2004, and has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. According to the press release World of Warcraft was the bestselling PC game of 2005 and 2006 worldwide, and finished behind only World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, the first expansion pack for the game, in 2007. In addition to being the bestselling PC game of 2007 in both North America and Europe, The Burning Crusade holds the record for fastest-selling PC game of all time, with nearly 2.4 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and approximately 3.5 million in its first month.

World of Warcraft was recently launched in Russia and Latin America, and is currently available in eight languages. In addition to North America and Europe, the game is played in mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Chile, Argentina, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

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